Railway-car seat



W. S. WRIGHT.

RAILWAY'CAR SEAT.

APPucATloN meu 1111111.15, 1919.

W. S. WRIGHT.

RAILWAY CAR SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED MA'II. I5. I9I9..

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' @Waff/vnf TTD STATES PATENT OFFCE..

WILLIAM SFWRIGHT, OF NEWARK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO BESSIE B. WiEtlKrI-I'l,l 0 ANNAPOIIS, MARYLAND. Y l

RAILWAY-cna SEAT.

Specification of Letters lfatent. i Patented lApr, (i, 1920.

Application ledvlVIarchA 15, 1919i Serial No. 282.802. l

Tov all whom it may concern: y v

Beit known that I,\V1LLIAM S. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States of America, andfresident of Newark, county of Licking, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Car Seats, of which theY following is a specication.

This invention relates broadly torailway car seats, and more particularly to a. car seat of the reversibleI type.

The primary object of they invention is to simplify and structurally'improve that type of-reversible car seats in which the seat back is shiftable from one lateral edge of the seat to the other, providing a structure in which the seat cushion vis-slightly moved in the opposite direction simultaneously with reversal of the seat back and is slightly tilted, or has its angle of inclination changed in a manner conducive to the com fort of an occupant of the seat.

A further object is to provide a car seat inwhich the entire reversing mechanism is located beneath the seat cushion rather than at the ends of the latter, therebynot only eliminating danger of injury t0 passengers, but also permitting'of the use of the greatest possible length of seat cushion. Y

A stilll further object"`svto provide a seat reversing mechanism which is rendered peculiarly free from the shifting strains to which' such seat structures are commonly subjected, by providing' such a: structure andV arrangement of parts that no director near center forcesA must be overcome in starting shifting movement. InV other words, it is an object toprovide a structure in which the tendency of shiftable parts to bind or lock, retarding free shifting movement, is-largely eeunteracted or overcome.

Another object is to provide a seat having such an end construction that twisting or misalinement of the seat frame is effec'- tually prevented.

l-Tith these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the features of construction, arrangement of' parts and combinations of elements which will hereinafter be fullyV described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1' is a front eleva-tionof one end of a. seat embodying-my invention, the seat back and 'seat cushion being-shown in broken lllleS;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line 2 2, Fig.. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 'l is an enlarged inner face View of an end pl-ate;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same on line 5-5, Fig. Zl;

Fig. 6 is an inner face view of one ofthe supports for the seat cushion;

Fig. '7 is la'transverse section of the same on line 7-7, Fig. 6; v

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the rotatable shaft showing the levers carried thereby;

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the same;

Fig. l0 is an inner face view of one of the standards upon which the seat back is mounted; and

Fig. l1 is an edge view of the same.

Referring to said drawings, in Whichlike designating characters distinguish like parts throughout the several viewsl indicates a pedestal or leg constituting one of the supports upon which theseat and seat-shifting mechanism lare-mounted. Obvi ously, two such legs may be employed, or the seat may be mounted upon the car wall at one end and upon such a leg at the other. Mounted upon the legs 1, or upon a leg at one end and the car wall at the other, according as one or two legs are employed,

are two longitudinally extending frame' members 2, preferably composed of anglef iron, as shown; and rigidly secured, asby bolts 3,- to'each of the opposite ends yof said members 2 is an inwardly directed flange 4e formed on the lower edge of an end late 5 which is herein shownV as rectangu ar in' form and composed of pressed steel with in turned top and end flanges 5a. y Rigidly carried on they inner face of each end plate is a channel member 6 the channel of which .is arcuately curved and constitutesa trackway in `which are received rollers 7- that are rotatably mounted on the outer face oflthe head portion 8av of a metal standard: 8 upon which an end of the seat back 9 is mounted. Said rollers 7 support said seat back and are designed to travel along said trackway as said back is shifted from one of its operative positions to the other.

Mounted upon the inner face ofe'achl` end plate 5 beneath the trackvvay 6 and atl apoint approximatelyv midway between' the ends of said plate is a socket memberl: in which is rotatably mounted: one. endl of# a;

shaft 11 which extends throughout the length of the seat.

rlhe head portion 8a of each stand-ard 8 is formed with an inwardly facing channel 12 therein, said channel being herein depicted as of inverted-V shape,but it may be of arcuately curved form instead. Received in and adapted to travel along said channel 12 is an outwardly extending stud or pin 13 carried vby a lever arm 14e which is rigidly mounted upon the shaft 11. Said arm is Y prolonged somewhat beyond the location of the pin 13 so Jthat when the seat back is being shifted the prolonged, or free, end of the arm will, as said back approaches the center of travel or movement, enter a pocket 15 of semi-circular forni provided in an outwardly projecting lip 16 whichis formed on the head portion .8 of the standard S directly over the apex of the channel 12. The engagement of the end of said arm in said pocket results in the pin 13 being carried over the apex of the lower wall of the channel 12 without lost motion and without a dead point or dead center being encountered. Y

Y Seated and transversely slidable upon the frame members 2 adjacent to each end of the seat frame are the lower relatively-inclined inwardly-flanged edges of a pressed steel seat-cushion support 17 having lugs or posts 18 on its upper edge adapted to engage, as ordinarily, with the seat cushion 19. Provided in said supper 17 midway between the ends of the latter is a T-shaped slot in the horizontal head portion 2() of which is received the shaft 11,said shaft Vbeing disposed at one or'the other end of said portion 20 of theslot according as the seat cushion 19 occupies one or the other of its operative positions, as will hereinafter be explained. Said shaft 11 carries thereon at a point adjacent to and outward with Vrespect to the position of the support 17 a lever arm 2l having an inwardly directed stud or pin 22 which is movably disposed in the vertical stem portion 23 the T-shaped slot in said support.

ln practice, slight force applied by hand to the seatv back 9 accomplishes reversal of the positions of said back and the seatcushion 19. Force so applied causes said back to swing from one limit of its movement to the other, the rollers 7 traveling forward from one end of the trackway in the channel member 6 to the other. As the standard 8 which carries said rollers moves forward, the lever arms 14e and the 'shaft 11 are Vrotated. forward. When the prolonged ends of said arms enter the pockets 15, being guided into the latter through travel of the pins 13 in the inverted V- shaped channel 12, the rotation of said shaft is accelerated to the extent that the movement of the back is continued to its reversed position and the pins 13 carried over the apex of the channel with the application of but slight force and without lost motion.

Due'to the fact thatk the pins 13 of levers la occupy positions under, or on a lower plane than, the foremost vrollers 7 at the commencement of reversingmovement, the reversing force applied to the top and end of the seat back 9 and transmitted to said levers tends to lift up the foremost roller at the opposite end of the back and thus to prevent the tendency of the rollers to lock in thechannel of the member 6. ln other words, the arrangement of thelevers 14 with portions disposed in the trackway 12 serves to remove all tendency on the part of the seat-back-supporting rollers to bind or lock. This feature will be clearly understood when it is pointed out that, in the absence of the levers 1e, reversing force applied to the top of the seat back would cause the forward roller to be forced down against the lower flange of the channel member G and the rear roller to be forced up against the upper flange of said member,

resulting in binding orlocking of the inter-- engaged parts. As stated, this tendency to lock or bind is effectually counteracted through the upward movement of the levers 14 to the extent that the foremost rollers 7 are lifted off the lower flange.

As is obvious, the Vmechanism facilitates and provides for accelerated movement through the shaft from one end of the seatV back to the other when reversing force is applied to the seat back. f

Due to the fact that the opposite arms le occupy correspondingly inclined positions on opposite ends of the shaft, and the pins 13 thereof operate incorresponding channels, it is apparent that the opposite ends of the seat back will move uniformly and without any twisting strains which would be due to one end traveling in advance of the other. I

As the shaft 11 rotates, actuated by the arms 14: in engagement with the heads 8 of the standards, force is exerted through the pins 22 and the arms 21 by which said pins are carried whereby the seat-cushion supports 17 are actuated toV slide trans versely upon thed frame members 2in a. direction opposite to that in which the sean back is being moved. ln other words, a, leverage is exerted through the arms 21 of the rotating shaft l which shifts the supports 17 and the seat cushion 19 carried by thev latter to a reversely inclined position corresponding with that required by the reversal of the position of the seat back. Further, as is obvious, the seat cushion firmly held against tilting by reason of the fact that in either of the operative positions thereof, the shaft 11 0ccupies a seated position with respect to an end of the horizontal head portion 2O of the T-shaped slot in each cushion support 17.

It Awill be noted that the mechanism described is extremely simple and provides for reversal of the seat without` binding or locking of interengaging parts and without subjecting any of said parts to twisting, movement-retarding, or other undue strains.

lhat is claimed is:

1. In a car seat, the combination with al seat cushion and shiftable supports therefor, of seat shifting mechanism including a rotatable shaft, a shiftable seat-back supporting standard, said standard having a guideway7 in its lower end and having a pocket located over and intermediate the ends of said guideway, and arms carried by said shaft, said arms having' portions disposed to travel in said guideway and having other portions adapted to enter said pockets for interengaging said arms and said standards in such manner that rotation is imparted to said shaft during shifting movement of said standards.

2. A supporting standard for reversible seat backs having an arch-like guideway in a face thereof and provided with a downwardly opening pocket at a point above and midway between the ends of said guideway.

3 A supporting standard for reversible sea-t backs having an inverted V-shaped guideway formed therein adjacent to its lower end and provided with al downwardly opening pocket at a point over the apex of said guideway.

Ll. In a car seat, the combination with seat cushion supports, of mechanism for shifting the positions of said supports including a rotatable shaft having arms engaged with said supports, a pair of seat-back-supporting standards each having a curved guideway formed therein adjacent to its lower end and provided with a downwardly opening pocket at a point over the middle portion of said guideway, and lever arms carried by said shaft having pins disposed for travel in said guideway and having their ends prolonged beyond said pins for seating in said pockets.

5. In a car seat, the combination with seateushion supports, of mechanism for shifting the positions of said supports including a rotatable shaft having arms engaged with said supports, a pair of seat-back-supporting standards each having an inverted V-shaped guideway formed therein adjacent to its lower end and provided with a downwardly opening pocket at a point over the apex of said guideway, lever arms carried by said shaft having pms disposed for travel in said guideway and having their ends prolonged beyond said pins for seating in said pockets, end plates upon which said shaft is mounted, said plates having curved inwardly facing guideways thereon, and rollers carried by said standards mounted for travel in last-mentloned guideways.'

G'. In a reversible car seat, the combination.

of a frame, end plates supported by said frame, curved tracks supported byv said plates, seat-cushion supports slidable transversely upon saidframe, a back movable over said seat for reversing its position, standards supporting said back and having correspondinginverted V-shaped guideways adjacent to the lower ends thereof and also provided with a downwardly opening socket over the apex of said guideway, rollers carried by said standards mounted to travel on said curved tracks, a shaft having its opposite ends rotatably mounted on said end plates, a pair of lever arms carried by said shaft, laterally directed pins carried ntermediate the ends of said arms and disposed to travel in said guideways, the free ends of said arms being adapted to seat in said pockets during a part of the reversing movementof said standards whereby rotation is imparted to said shaft, said seat-cushion supports having T-shaped slots therein and said shaft being adapted to seat at one or the other end of the head portion of said slot according to thel operative position occupied by said supports, and a second pair of lever arms carried by said shaft and having pins movably disposed in the stem portion of, said slot. Y

7. A car seat comprising a seat cushion and a seat back, the latter having carrying rollers and being shiftable over the former to a reversed position, and mechanism intermediate said back and said cushion whereby a reversing force applied to one end of said back is transmitted to the opposite ends o f the seat for producing uniform relative movements of said parts, said mechanism including means for counteracting all tendency of said rollers to bind, whereby the parts are freed from twisting or bindin strains.

S. In a car seat, the combination with a seat back, of shiftable standards supporting said back, said standards having curved guideways in their lower ends, rigidly supported end plates having curved inwardly facing guideways thereon, a pair of rollers carried by each standard and disposed for travel in the last-mentioned guideways, a rock-shaft having its ends mounted in said end` plates, and lever arms carried by said shaft and having parts slidably disposed in the guideways of said standards in such rela* tion to said rollers that locking or binding of the latter upon the application of reversing force to said standards is counteracted.

9. In a railway car seat, the combination with a seat frame and a cushion shiftable thereon, of a reversible seat back, supporting standards rigidlyattached to said back and having transverse channels in their lower ends, and mechanism having parts disposed the for travel in and adapted to be actuated through their engagement with said channels Whereby'seid cushion is shiftedsimul-V taneonsly with reversal of said back, said mechanism being located in its entirety below the plane of the bottom of said cushion to permit the latter to occupy the full Width or' the space between said standards and also in a position wherein no part 10 thereof is presented above said plane during shifting movement, said mechanism being also disposed to leavesubstantially Vacant the space below said seat frame. Y

In testimony whereof, I a'HiX my signature in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM s. WRIGHT.

VitnesseS BEssIE B. VRIGHT, CHARLEs L. STORY. 

